Sunday, November 22, 2009

Opinion

Robert Schlesinger

California Supreme Court Was Right to Uphold Anti-Gay Marriage Prop 8

May 26, 2009 02:39 PM ET | Robert Schlesinger | Permanent Link | Print

By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

The California Supreme Court today upheld the legality of the state constitutional amendment that banned same-sex marriage there.

While I am squarely in favor of marriage equality, the court seems to have made the correct (if undesirable) decision in this case. The bottom line is that California voters can amend their constitution through referenda and they did so. They were wrong, but it's their right. And at the same time, the 18,000 marriages that had been conducted were valid at the time and so should remain valid.

Hot Air's Ed Morrissey comes to the same conclusion and makes a couple of more interesting points:

However, that does set up an interesting point for a federal appeal. If the plaintiffs in this case argue against this dichotomy on an equal-protection basis, a federal court might find that intriguing enough to consider. Even if that doesn't work, the plaintiffs plan on a new referendum that will reverse Proposition 8. Something tells me that this will be a more or less permanent feature on California's ballots for the foreseeable future.

He's right. Round and round we'll go...if the gay marriage advocates can manage to overturn Prop 8, they'll be on defense for a few years trying to keep from having their overturn overturned. Whee!

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Tags: California | marriage | courts | gay rights | Proposition 8

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Robert Schlesinger is a deputy editor at U.S. News and World Report and oversees all opinion editorial content. He is the author of White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters.

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